Last Day at Channel 9 News

Saying Goodbye

Thursday was also my last day at my internship and it was kind of bittersweet. I have formed friendships with most everybody I have worked with over the past 2 months and all of them have been there for me in one way or another... I have learned so much from my internship and am truly blessed to be able to come here and learn from such awesome people! I remember the first story I did and how discouraged I was after it, thinking there was no way I could actually be a TV journalist. But by the end I had improved so much and my stories actually looked and sounded pretty good. I will miss everyone at Channel 9 so much and I hope I will be back to visit often! Thank you all for everything you have done for me and being part of my life!

-Houston, Tutti Fruity, O'Bannonan, O'Bainon, ect.

Photo of the day JULY 21

Meeting Ritchie McCaw, All Blacks Captain

Probably the best thing that has happened to me since I flew into New Zealand was Thursday when Dee and I got to meet the All Blacks Captain Ritchie McCaw! Mark Hathaway, one of the Ch9 reporters, went to school with Ritchie and so Mark was able to schedule a channel 9 exclusive interview with him... and of course Dee and I were ready to come along for that one! The interview was awesome and the story turned out great as well... Dee got to film and I once again took pictures to document the event. After we were done with the interview, without embarrassing Mark too much, Dee got his autograph and we also got to take a picture with him! He is so gorgeous and such a nice guy, not to mention pretty much a hero and celebrity in New Zealand! It was just amazing having the chance to meet him and after we dropped Mark off, Dee and I were as embarrassing as Justin Bieber fans! Best day EVER! :)

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 20

Sunrise over Port Chalmers, NZ

On Wednesday I actually got out of bed and made it to work by 7:30 AM so I could go to the All Blacks press conference. The experience was great and it was cool to be that close to all the players and watch them being interviewed. I didn't do any of the interviewing, but I was glad to be able to get the experience of going to the conference and seeing how it works. We were done early by 8:30 AM and so that left us an hour before we had to be at work officially. So, we drove out to Port Chalmers and watched the sun rise over the ocean. It was a gorgeous sunrise and a perfect way to spend an early morning!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 19

All Blacks Training at Carisbrook Stadium

During the last week of my internship, the National New Zealand rugby team was in town and that of course is news. So I got to spend part of my last week going out with the Ch9 News team to their training and press conference. It was an awesome experience to see big time sports reporting in action, considering that is what I want to do eventually. Also the All Blacks' players are so good looking!!! We were very close to the action and I got to just go along for the ride and take lots of pictures! Great experience for my last week at the news station!

-Houston

Photo of the day JULY 18

Big Beach, Aramoana, New Zealand

Today Dee took me on her weather shot out to Aramoana which is a small town about 25 minutes outside of Dunedin. Dee used to live here for years and raised her kids in the town so she knows all about it. It was also where David Gray, a resident of Aramoana several years ago went insane and started shooting people. He killed 13 people, most of them his neighbors, and was on the loose for a couple of days before authorities caught him. I'm pretty sure it was the deadliest criminal shooting in New Zealand history. There is a movie made about it called "Out of the Blue" which I have seen and driving around and seeing some of the same houses seen on the movie was eerie.... But the town was really cute and I could tell the lifestyle was very relaxed out there. The beaches were gorgeous too, as you can see in this photo. Good way to get out of the office and see something cool!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 17

The Puzzling World, Wanaka

Today we had until 3 before our bus picked us up to go back to Dunedin, so we wandered up the road and found this place. It is basically a museum type place of optical illusions and a giant maze. It took us probably like 45 minutes to do the maze, finding our way back to the start was the hardest part and very frustrating! The maze is huge though, they say the average person walks 3-5 km when they do the maze... crazy! Then there were four optical illusion rooms... The first was a hologram room, several different hologram projections. then there was the following face room. Basically it was a room filled with 3D faces that appeared to look at you and follow you around the room! Then there was a anti gravity room which the floor was so sloped that it made it appear like you were leaning when you were standing up straight and made it look like water runs up hill! That was probably my favorite, although it made me fill a bit nauseous... and the last one was a room that looked normal from the outside, but inside the floor is sloped so if people are standing on opposite sides one looks like a giant and the other looks like a midget. The technique was used in Lord of the Rings apparently! Anyway it was fun and had some really cool stuff to see! Then we caught the bus home, didn't miss it this time! I'm all geared up and ready for my last week at Channel 9 and my parents are coming to visit, they get to Dunedin on Wednesday! :) Cant wait!

-Whitney

Photo of the day JULY 16

Snowboarding Cardrona, New Zealand

FINALLY!!! After waiting on the snow for two months here in NZ I got to shred some New Zealand powder, which is one of the main things that drew me to come here in the first place! I was so excited the night before I could hardly sleep! Sarah and I got up at 6:15 AM (yes that time is correct, I actually was awake before the sun rose!) in order to get everything organized to go up to the mountain. We had to figure out which mountain to go to, where to rent boards and how to get a bus ticket for transportation to the mountain... But everything ended up working perfectly! We found a cheap rental shop right away, it only cost me 25 NZDs! Then we headed to the bus stop. At first the guy told us the bus was full, but we lucked out and it wasn't, so that meant we didn't have to hitch a ride up the mountain! ;) Once we got to Cardrona, our bus driver offered sarah and I to buy lift passes off him for only 50 dollars, which is half of what it costs at the resort!!! Such a great start to the day! Snowboarding Saturday was really cold and the wind was out of this world, plus a huge fog cloud was sitting right over the mountain for most of the day, but the day was still epic and awesome! I taught Sarah how to board, and now she has snow stoke! haha We had some scary moments where we literally could not see a foot in front of us, but we made it and had a lot of fun! I cant wait to go shred in New Zealand some more before I leave! :)

-Whitney